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Ethical Questions. Please read these assignment instructions before writing your paper, and re- read them often during and after the writing process to make sure that you are fulfilling all of the instructions. Please also utilize the assignment guidance, the modeled example, and the outline provided.

Overview

The following assignment is an exercise designed to help you begin the process of addressing a moral issue, a process that will continue in the next two assignments. In this exercise, you will do the following:

Ethical Questions. Please read these assignment instructions before writing your paper, and re- read them often during and after the writing process to make sure that you are fulfilling all of the instructions. Please also utilize the assignment guidance, the modeled example, and the outline provided.

Overview

The following assignment is an exercise designed to help you begin the process of addressing a moral issue, a process that will continue in the next two assignments. In this exercise, you will do the following:

Ethical Questions. Please read these assignment instructions before writing your paper, and re- read them often during and after the writing process to make sure that you are fulfilling all of the instructions. Please also utilize the assignment guidance, the modeled example, and the outline provided.

Overview

The following assignment is an exercise designed to help you begin the process of addressing a moral issue, a

Ethical Questions. Please read these assignment instructions before writing your paper, and re- read them often during and after the writing process to make sure that you are fulfilling all of the instructions. Please also utilize the assignment guidance, the modeled example, and the outline provided.

Overview

The following assignment is an exercise designed to help you begin the process of addressing a moral issue, a process that will continue in the next two assignments. In this exercise, you will do the following:

What do you believe is the strongest argument against relativism that was presented the readings for the week? Outline the argument presenting the reasons the author gives for thinking that relativism is inadequate. Finally, discuss relativism with your classmates in general. What are some relativistic beliefs you have held? Do you believe that they can be justified or do you plan on reevaluating those beliefs now that you have learned more about relativism?

What are some relativistic beliefs that you have or that you find in society? What are those ethical beliefs and how do people justify those beliefs? Using the articles from Mary Midgley and James Rachels, present a critique of those relativistic beliefs. What reasons do you have for thinking that these beliefs are not consistent.

In the excerpt from the Republic the example of the ring of Gyges is used to claim that humans only act morally because of fear that they will be caught. Present an example of someone being morally good out of fear and then present an example of someone being morally good out of an inherent desire to act in a specific way. Discuss with others the idea that morality is inherent and based on universal principles or virtues versus the idea that ethics is socially created and varies based on human social and political context. Which do you find to be more convincing? Which philosophical reasons would you present for thinking that your position is the best

Slavery has been practiced world-wide since the earliest days of humanity and is still practiced in parts of the world even today. Even the Bible condones slavery. Yet today in America most people think that slavery is absolutely morally wrong. Polygamy has been practiced world-wide since the earliest days and is still practiced in parts of the world even today. Some major religions require polygamy. There are many holy men in the Bible who had multiple wives and concubines. Yet today in America most people think that polygamy is absolutely morally wrong. We even have laws against polygamy.

Using at least one quote from chapter six of Understanding Philosophy, describe the core principle of utilitarianism and discuss the problem of the “tyranny of the majority.” Find a real example of a current or past social practice, (or create your own fictional example) that illustrates this problem. Complete your post by evaluating whether the overall good generated by the practice outweighs the suffering caused by the practice.

Singer reasons for what he calls the “basic principle of equality”. What is this principle and how is it supposed to be applied? What reasoning does he give that this principle should be applied to non-human animals? Do you agree? On what basis do you think we should determine which types of beings should be treated with equal moral consideration?

Peter Singer argues that eating meat is speciesism because it involves sacrificing the most important interests of members of other species for relatively trivial interests of our own species. Do you think Singer is correct or incorrect on this point? Is "speciesism" a real thing like racism or sexism? Why or why not?

Is there a compelling reason you can give why our preference for meat dishes is more important than an animal’s interest in not being killed (and raised in captivity)?

If the primary goal of utilitarianism is to generate the greatest good for the greatest number, a secondary goal is to minimize suffering. Using at least one quote from one of the required readings, discuss the ways in which these two principles are consistent or inconsistent with each other. If you think they are consistent, provide a real or imagined example that illustrates this consistency. If you think they are inconsistent, provide a real or imagined example that illustrates this inconsistency. Complete your post by discussing whether minimizing suffering is equal to, lesser than, or more important that generating the greatest good for the greatest number.

Singer argues that there is no moral justification for denying moral consideration to animals. Can you think of a good moral reason why our moral consideration should include all humans, even those without the ability to reason, yet be denied to all non-human animals (some of whom have that ability)? What response might he have to your way of drawing the line between the types of beings that should get moral consideration and those that should not?

Tom Regan says that we all have equal inherent value by virtue of being ‘experiencing subjects of a life’. What does it mean to be an ‘experiencing subject of a life’? Do you think that being the subject of a life means that one has equal inherent value? Does it follow from that view that animals should be given rights to life and freedom?